Tar or petroleum still



(No Model.)

W. H. STELWAGON. TAR OR PETROLEUM STILL.

No. 503,996. Patented Aug. 29., 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. STELWAGON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TAR OR PETROLEUM STILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,996, dated August29, 1893.

Application filed June 29, 1892. Serial No. 438,365. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. STEL- WAGON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tar orPetroleum Stills, which improvement is fully set forth in the followingspecification and accompanying drawings.

My invention consists in providing a tar or petroleum still with meansfor agitating the contents of the still, as will be hereinafter setforth.

Figure 1 represents alongitudinal vertical section of a still having myinvention applied thereto. Fig. 2 represents a perspective view of thepart of the still embodying my invention. Fig. 3 represents a section ofa portion of a modification.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalviews.

Referring to the drawings: A designates a tar or petroleum still, whichexcepting the feature of my invention applied thereto is of usualconstruction. Within the still is an agitator-B, which is formed ofblades or vanes 0, arms D supporting the same, and a shaft E to whichsaid arms are attached, said shaft being mounted on thewalls of thestill and having one 'end outside of the same, which is provided with apulley F for the purpose of operating said shaft, and consequentlyrotating the vanes 0. Some of the vanes are formed of flat platesrectangular in shape, and others tapering, or they may be curved as inFig. 3, it being seen that when power is applied to the shaft E, thevanes are rotated, whereby as they dip into and pass through thematerial in the still, they raise and agitate the same, and owing to thetapering form of some of the vanes, the material is directed laterallyto one end of the still, and thus caused to circulate, whereby effectiveagitation of the material is occasioned.

In tar and petroleum there is more orless water, and in distilling thesame there is considerable trouble and difficulty in keeping thematerial in the still, owing to its tendency to foam and run through thecondensing coils. Said trouble and difficulty may be obviated in part bythe most careful attention' and nursing of the fire, or by reducing therunning charge of material below the average before the fire is lighted,but by the agitation of the material, less care is required,

and the evaporation is more rapid,so that the time in running off astill is greatly reduced, thus saving labor and fuel. Again, the chargeof the still may be increased, as there is less foaming. Furthermore, inthe case of tar, the deposit of the heavier matters of the same on thebottom of the still is prevented, so that the duration of the still islonger, and frequent cleaning of the same is obviated. It will also befound that the output of the still is increased while the wear of thesame is no greater than heretofore. The best results are believed to beobtained by starting the agitator at the time that the fire is lighted,and running the same ata given number of revolutions per minute, andthen as the distilling progresses, reducing the number of revolutions,and continuing at the latter number until the distillation is finished.

It is evident that my invention is applicable to the treatment of oilsother than petroleum, and of tar and similar materials. The inner endsof the arms D are slotted to receive the bolts D which are screwed orotherwise secured to the collars D on the shaft E, whereby the blades ofthe agitator may be readily adjusted or set out to greater or lessextent according to requirements.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A tar or petroleum still having a rotary agitator therein, thesamebeing formed of rectangular and tapering vanes, whereby the material inthe still may be raised and also directed laterally, and thereby causedto circulate, substantially as described.

2. A tank, a shaft journaled therein, collars secured on said shaft,arms adjustable on said collars, and vanes secured to said arms, saidvanes being rectangular and tapering, said parts being combinedsubstantially as described.

WILLIAM H. STELWAGON.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. WIEDERSHEIM, A. P. JENNINGS.

